Analytical

Learn More About the Clifton StrengthsFinder Theme

Your Analytical theme challenges other people: "Prove it. Show me why what you are claiming is true." In the face of this kind of questioning some will find that their brilliant theories wither and die. For you, this is precisely the point. You do not necessarily want to destroy other people's ideas, but you do insist that their theories be sound. You see yourself as objective and dispassionate. You like data because they are value free. They have no agenda. Armed with these data, you search for patterns and connections. You want to understand how certain patterns affect one another. How do they combine? What is their outcome? Does this outcome fit with the theory being offered or the situation being confronted? These are your questions. You peel the layers back until, gradually, the root cause or causes are revealed. Others see you as logical and rigorous. Over time they will come to you in order to expose someone's "wishful thinking" or "clumsy thinking" to your refining mind. It is hoped that your analysis is never delivered too harshly. Otherwise, others may avoid you when that "wishful thinking" is their own.

Action Items for This Theme

Choose work in which you are paid to analyze data, find patterns, or organize ideas. For example, you might excel at research (e.g. marketing, financial, medical), database management, editing, or risk management.

Whatever your role, identify credible sources upon which you can rely. You are at your best when you have well-researched sources of information and numbers to support your logic. For example, determine the most helpful books, Web sites, or publications that can serve as references.

Develop your Analytical skills by getting to know and share ideas with the outstanding analysts who specialize in your area.

Take an academic course that will expand your Analytical strength. Specifically, study people whose logic you admire.

Volunteer your Analytical talent. You can be particularly helpful to those who are struggling to organize large quantities of data or to bring structure to their ideas.

Be ready to:

Partner with someone with a strong Activator theme. This person's impatience will move you quickly through the analytical phase into the action phase.

Listen to people with the Strategic, Belief, or Empathy themes. Their insights and intuitions are difficult to measure, but are often accurate and valuable nonetheless.

Managers who introduce a strengths-based approach to their teams invariably ask this question: Is there a "dark side" to employees' strengths? Can a person with strong command become too pushy, or a person with strong analytical talents drive colleagues crazy with endless questions and hypothetical scenarios? In this article, a strengths expert probes these vexing questions and, using real-life examples, offers surprising (and reassuring) answers.

It's widely believed that those who get ahead in office politics must be dupes, stooges, or yes-people. But the reality is quite different. Gallup has found that among the most successful organizations, many people who get ahead are solid performers and highly effective in their roles. What's their secret? They use their innate talents to rise through the ranks -- and to master the politics of their workplaces.